With so many new members the server-lady is anxious
about 'getting the photos.' I am anxious too,
because the little battery symbol is flashing, which means
it is saying, "I am nearly empty, you jerk!"

Then, when Marion says "Munich is just a village," a
suntanned Stan Fleener rolls up from San Diego - well,
actually Leucadia - after a much shorter flight than Carmel
and Alan.

Today's club drinks - all approved 'for
every audience,' from zero to 108.

The server-lady is drinking Schwepps with a lemon slice
but without gin - does gin exist in France? - while the
rest of us are having different-sized cafés - again!
- but Stan opts for La Corona's orange juice, which comes
in a little bottle called 'Joker.' Everybody agrees this
can be 'Drink of the Week' because the server-lady is sans
gin.

Stan's big tale was about the exciting time he had
flying out of Paris on Sunday, 26. December, just before
Roissy was shut down for the big storm. Linda says, "It was
pitch black and the TV didn't work!" At this moment, there
is a downpour on the Quai du Louvre outside.

Either Alan or Stan - my notes are hazy - says the
Musée de la Musique is a great museum after Stan
tells us about a concert he went to that featured Yo-Yo-Ma
and Mark O'Connor. The way he tells us about it, I wonder
why it's not in the 'Scene' column.

The server-lady wants to sign the official 'real'
members' booklet. She has already signed it, long ago. I
tell her the original sign-up is 'for life,' but she looks
disappointed all the same.

Stan is amazed at the price of Carmel and Alan's hotel
room. He says he tried to talk his wife into coming over
'on the cheap.' "How cheap?" she wanted to know.

Stan told her, "A hundred bucks a night."

"Yukkk, no thanks!" she said.

Alan tells us all about the fantastic, light-sensitive
windows at the Musée de la Monde Arabe; also
mentioning that there's a great view from the roof there.
Marion remembers the time she came back to Paris from
Ireland and ended up in Wales, where "All the town names
were full of 'L's,' 'W's,' and 'G's'."

Then we discuss what one actually gets for a breakfast
in Denmark. Yeah. Cheese, ham, maybe even fish. No soup
bowl full of weak coffee. Yeah. No "Starving in Paris!"

I think this gives everyone a huge appetite, because
shortly after five we all file out - to look for a snack to
tide us over until the next real meal before
breakfast.

Date, Time and Location of Next
Meeting

The date for the club's next 'real' meeting is Thursday,
20. April. Come to the meeting if it seems to be Thursday
and you are in Paris. If you don't happen to be in Paris on
this day, wherever you are you should say "It must be
Café Metropole Club day!"

One of the
café La Corona's colorful windows displays,
reflecting the Left Bank.

The café La Corona meeting place will be open as
usual inside and out next Thursday, so the time for your
club's meeting remains from 15:00 to 17:00 - which is also
known as 3 pm to 5 pm in certain un-universal time
zones.

Come as you are, especially if you can. If you do not
expect to be present you can read the regular - this week's
- Monday page for your last
week's club's news.

Instead of PR, instead of an account of last week's
meeting, it now features a string of words unrelated to any
club affairs, minus whatever contest-of-the-week I've run
up to see if anybody enters. I've quit having 'schemes of
the week' after last week's fiasco. The café's
location is: